October 3 – On Tuesday afternoon, the Acalanes Freshman Girls Volleyball Team traveled all the way to Walnut Creek for a road tilt with the Las Lomas Knights. The air must have been a little thin in the gym as both teams put several serves and spikes long early, before finding a rhythm. Acalanes ground out to a 17-8 lead in the first game behind strong serving from Daisy Sibley and Audrey Passalaqua, and that pair played some fine defense along side libero Sydney Sowarby. Lyla Cox and Samantha Hansen provided the most consistent offense from the middle blocker position with several quick hits each on ones from Bella Draper and Megan Go, respectively. Acalanes went on to close out the first game 25-15 as passing from specialists Maren Takeuchi and Chloe Wu kept the Knights from gaining any momentum late.

The second set got off to a smoother start with a quick side out and then 9 points on serves from Megan Go and featuring powerful hits from outside Carly Coffee and crafty net play from opposite Lauren Davis. Daisy Sibley then ran off 11 more points to give the team a 22-1 lead and Libby Ross came in to close out the match 25-2. Nice work Lady Dons!

The Cross Country team competed in its first league meet on Wednesday at Hidden Valley Park in Martinez.

Standouts in this meet were Freshman Nicole Frigon, who competed in the Girls’ Varsity 3-mile race with a 28th place finish out of 52 runners with a time of 22:09.2; Senior Ethan Frigon and Junior Joshua Starr, who competed in the Boys’ Varsity 3-mile race with 11th and 14th place finishes out of 68 runners (17:18.2 and 17:24.9, respectively); Juniors Coco Cornish and Emersyn White, who competed in the Girls’ JV 2-mile race with 16th and 21st place finishes out of 81 runners (15:52.4 and 16:13.8, respectively); Junior Ed Collinson, who competed in the Boys’ JV 2-mile race with a 17th place finish out of 108 runners with a time of 12:40.7; Sophomores Sidney Zimmerman and Emily Sverak, who competed in the Girls’ Frosh/Soph 2-mile race with 25th and 32nd place finishes out of 88 runners (16:37 and 16:48, respectively); and Sophomore Nick Hutson and Freshmen Dominic Basaldua, Derek Kotarba and Sam Roth, who competed in the Boys’ Frosh/Soph 2-mile race with 2nd, 7th (1st Frosh), 5th (2nd Frosh) and 24th (3rd Frosh) places out of 216 runners with times of 11:44.1, 12:05.6, 12:30.7 and 12:43.0, respectively. Way to go Dons!!

On Tuesday afternoon, the Acalanes Freshman Girls Volleyball team (10-3) defeated the Miramonte Matadors in straight sets to continue their strong play this season. The defensive tone was set early with a roof from Lauren Davis and a big kill from Carly Coffee on offense. The teams traded possessions until a nice service run from Megan Go made it 16-12. Miramonte fought back to take the lead 17-16, but then a series of deep serves from Chloe Wu and steady defense from Sydney Sowarby allowed the Dons to close it out 25-19.

The second game was never really close as solid serving from Libby Ross, Daisy Sibley, and Maren Takeuchi pushed the team to a big lead early. Bella Draper teamed with Audrey Passalaqua and middle blocker Samantha Hansen for a number of points, and Lauren Davis hammered one deep in the corner off a dime from Megan Go. Miramonte tried to make a late run but a spectacular diving dig from Audrey Passalacqua and a powerful block/kill combination from Lyla Cox ended the match.

September 23 by Hunter Davis:

The Dons played in a weekend East County tournament hosted at Pittsburg High School. The team went 3-1 in the tournament, beating the host Pirates and handling Dougherty Valley in the opening round. In the final pool, they beat Castro Valley in straight sets before falling one game short of the championship, losing to San Ramon Valley in a very tight match. It was a long competitive day of volleyball and the whole team put in a great effort in finishing tied for third place.

On Monday, October 2nd there will be a pre-season meeting for the Acalanes Girls Lacrosse program in the Cafeteria at 7pm.

If you are interested in playing lacrosse this year it is important that you attend this meeting. Parents are encouraged to attend. Coaches will be there to discuss the season, pre-season clinics and try-out information!

Your Acalanes Dons Girls Volleyball team kicked off 2017 DAL League play by hosting the arch-rival Campolindo Cougars on Thursday night in front of a big and boisterous crowd. The match found the defending D III State Champions still looking to find their 2017 identity, as they came in at 2-4 on the year but with a big win over Marin County powerhouse Redwood High last weekend. This stiff test from the Cougs – currently ranked 6th in the State in Division 3 – would surely push them to their limits and help them grow as a team. Here is some of the action:

First Set:

2-8. Timeout Dons after a very rocky start. Adrenaline is pumping and Coach Rodriguez looks to settle the Dons down.

3-10. Dons out of sync.

6-15. Sarah Westergren delivers a kill to get the Dons a much needed point.

September 21, 2017 – It was an exciting afternoon of volleyball as the Acalanes Freshman Lady Dons took on arch rival Campolindo. The first set was tight early with strong blocking from Lauren Davis and Lyla Cox. The Dons used a serving streak from Lyla to break open a 10-5 lead, forcing Campo into an early timeout. The coaching move worked as the Cougars roared back to a 14-11 lead, but an equally well taken timeout from Coach Miranda Rodriguez along with solid serving from Sammy Hansen got the Dons back in the game. They kept it close on aggressive kills from Audrey Passalaqua and Carly Coffee, but could not take advantage of a late service run from Chloe Wu to drop the first game 20-25.

The second set may go down as the game of the season as neither team was able to build a lead, with 7+ lead changes. The Dons had great fan support from the JV and Varsity teams along with many others, and loud cheers of “Let’s go Dons” echoed throughout the gym at key moments highlighting this rivalry match. Back to back kills from Audrey Passalaqua and Lyla Cox on Megan Go assists gave the Dons the momentum and at 11-14, 4 straight points from Daisy Sibley gave the Dons the lead. After falling behind 22-24 the team fought back with excellent defense, nice setting from Bella Draper, and clutch team serving to push the match on. Strong passing from libero Sydney Sowarby and Marin Takeuchi countered Campo’s service game, while scrambling defense from Lauren Davis kept points alive as the tension ramped up. In the end, a few breaks allowed the Cougars to pull off a 30-28 victory in the second set, but it was a great match from both teams.